Vatican confirms ailing pope to visit Canada in July

By Alvise Armellini

ROME (AA) – The Vatican on Friday confirmed a late July trip to Canada by Pope Francis, who is battling a knee problem that has recently forced him to cancel some engagements and use a wheelchair.

Pope Francis will pay a visit to Canada from July 24 to 30, and visit the cities of Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit, the Vatican press office said.

The visit comes in the wake of meetings Francis had in late March at the Vatican with Canadian indigenous people, in which he offered a historic apology for the mass abuse of Canadian indigenous children in Catholic-run boarding schools.

Until the 1970s, the children were taken from their families to convert them to Christianity and integrate them into mainstream Canadian society. In the process, they were exposed to widespread sexual and physical abuse.

Francis, who is 85, has strained ligaments in his right knee, which make it very painful for him to walk. He was for the first time seen using a wheelchair in public last week, during an audience with nuns and religious superiors.

Also last week, a Lebanese minister said the pontiff had postponed a visit to his country, never officially announced but expected in mid-June, for health reasons. Francis is still scheduled to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 2-5, and South Sudan July 5-7.